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MONTREAL—One of Quebec’s largest and most important engineering firms has been barred from bidding on government contracts after it was outed for making illegal political donations and participating in a long-running bid-rigging scheme.

Dessau, a Laval-based company that employs about 5,000 people throughout Canada, is paying a steep price for the questionable steps several of its top executives have taken over more than a decade to win provincial and municipal infrastructure contracts worth millions of dollars.

The result of those decisions has led to former vice-president Claude Asselin charged with participating in a criminal organization along with former Laval mayor Gilles Vaillancourt. Among those arrested with Asselin last month was Rosaire Sauriol, a vice president with Dessau, which began as a family business.

Clearly, that dramatic step was not enough, and the Dessau ban may be a sign of what is to come for other Quebec engineering and construction firms who allegedly broke the law in order to win lucrative business. Most notable among them is SNC-Lavalin, which has several former executives facing criminal charges over allegations of fraud and bribery both at home and abroad.

The decision to penalize Dessau and a subsidiary, Verreault Construction, was taken after a rigorous verification process by Quebec’s anti-corruption police and the provincial financial regulator. The ban applies for five years, but can be shortened if the company shows that it has taken the measures necessary to correct a corrupt corporate culture.

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